Biological Services Laboratory

About

The Biological Services Laboratory is a core facility supporting comprehensive services customized to meet the specific needs of chemistry research.This facility is available for students and researchers within the department, as well as for other academic and industrial institutions.

Notice to Researchers

GENERAL RULES FOR WORKING IN THE BIOLOGICAL SERVICES LABORATORY

Prior to work, all users have to complete instrument-specific, chemical safety and biosafety training — no exceptions. Please call or e-mail to arrange a time with us for training.

Consultations, usage of the laboratory space/benches, equipment and technician help is available on a "first come/first serve" basis or by reservation of equipment in advance.

Lab users are responsible for removing their work materials from workstations as tasks are completed:

Biological Safety Cabinets

The BioChemGARD is a Class II, Type B2 Biological Safety Cabinet that was engineered specifically for laboratories that need containment and removal of vapors, mists and particulates.

We use it for cell-based assays of compounds with unknown cytotoxic and antibiotoc activities.

Nuare Class II Type A/B3 biosafety cabinets (2)

Labconco Class II Delta Series biosafety cabinet in room A418 is designated for work with mammalian cell cultures.

Real Time PCR

iCycler iQ™ Multi-Color Real Time PCR Detection System (BIO-RAD)

iCycler iQ™ Real-Time Detection System with iQ™ 5 Optical System Software provides amplification and real-time detection of PCR products by including in the reaction a wide range of fluorescent chemistry, such as DNA-binding dyes and fluorescently labeled sequence-specific primers and probes. Real-time analysis of PCR enables truly quantitative analysis of template concentration. The 350,000 pixel array on the CCD detector allows for simultaneous image collection of all 96 wells every second.

This instrument is also able to conduct a multiplex PCR (simultaneously quantitate two or more genes).

The second instrument in this group is MiniOpticon real-time PCR detection system with CFX ManagerTM software (Bio-Rad). The MiniOpticon system uses two channels for fluorescence detection: the first one will detect dyes in emission spectra in the 523-543 nm range, such as SYBR Green I and FAM, the second is optimized for dyes with emission spectra of 540-700 nm.

The T100TM Thermal cycler (Bio-Rad) is available for conventional PCR. The instrument has a 96-well block and can run sample volumes of 1-100µl.

cell-based assaysELISAADME/Toxicology96- and 385-well plate replication, incubation, plate washing, serial dilutionThe DTX880 multimode detector is capable of performing absorbance, luminescence, and fluorescence intensity measurements on samples in 6-384 plates;The Cytomat automated storage system for cell and tissue cultures is integrated in this robotic station and with device-integral Plate Shuffle System allows the automated, selective access to the plates.Elx405 magnetic Bead Microplate Washer is also integrated in the Biomek FX automated system.

Freeze Dryers

Coming soon: Pilot-size VirTis Vitual 50 EL Freeze Dryer. The system will have 10 shelves with inlet temperature range from -70o​C to + 65oC. The shelves will be moveable and equipped with hydraulic ram for stoppering vials under vacuum. User will be able to back fill with inert gas to a user defined vacuum set point prior to stoppering.

Applications:

solvent removal;preservation of bacteria or other biologicals;stabilization of bulk chemicals;protein preservation.

A wide range of adapters and reduction sleeves for all common tube types.AccuSpin TM Micro tabletop microcentrifuge for samples up to 2 ml. Maximum speed 16,000 rpm.IEC HN-SII tabletop centrifuge for microplates.DYNAC - everyone's favorite. We like to use it for cell suspensions and for flammable samples. Maximum speed 1790 rpm.Eppendorf 5810R refrigerated centrifuge with the following rotors:

SpectraMax QuickDrop UV-VIS Spectrophotometer (190-1100nm)

For micro-volume absorbance measurement of DNA, RNA, oligos, and proteins. The built-in sample port allows to work with volumes as small as 0.5 µL, preserving precious samples, while the cuvette port lets you expand your work to include larger volume samples. The instrument is suitable for applications in life sciences, clinical, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food and drink, agricultural, industrial, environmental, toxicology, water treatment.

Inverted Fluorescence Microscope

Olympus IX70 Inverted Fluorescence Microscope has a Olympus DP80 dual CCD 12.7 megapixel colour camera and 1.4 megapixel cooled monochrome camera. This multi-function camera with dual chips is optimal for imaging of brightfield and fluorescent samples. Olympus CellSens Dimensions software is available for imaging processing. The unit is fitted with phase-contrast optics and a turret that simultaneously holds up to 4 filter cubes for quick changeover to different excitation/emission wavelengths. The microscope accommodates a condenser with an ultralong working distance to enable observing the contents of large tissue culture vessels.

The Countess® II FL Automated Cell Counter

The Countess® II FL Automated Cell Counter

is a cell counting instrument equipped with optics and image analysis software for rapid assessment of cells in suspension. It has brightfield and two optional fluorescence channels to count cells, monitor fluorescent protein expression, and measure cell viability.

Water Purification

Milli-Q Synthesis Water Purification System from Millipore supplies nano quality ultra-pure water for molecular biology techniques, such as PCR, 2-D electrophoresis and also for defined cell culture media. Pyrogard 5000 cartridge removes nucleases, producing RNAse-free water without the need for DEPC treatment.